Henderson off to steady start at Open Championship

Brooke Henderson got off to a solid start at the AIG Women’s British Open, posting a first-round, one-under-par 70. It wasn’t spectacular or all that eventful but it was a solid opening performance.

“Just really steady,” Henderson said of her round. “Lots of pars. Only two birdies which is not a lot, but I only made one bogey so I kind of made up for it.”

The Smiths Falls, Ont., golfer opened with pars on the first six holes before dropping a birdie on the par-three seventh after a great approach. She then went on another par stretch before adding another birdie on the par-five 17th.

Her only blemish on the day came at the 18th when she missed a testy, downhill, four-foot par putt.

“I feel like I made a couple clutch par saves, especially on No. 9,” said Henderson. “Made about a 15-or-maybe-longer-footer just to save par on the par 5, so that was really clutch to keep the round going.

“And then the back nine just made a lot of like six-footers to kind of just keep the momentum going forward. Hopefully tomorrow just go out and make an early birdie and makeup for today.”

The weather started nasty but improved as the day went on. Henderson said she got soaked while warming up in a steady rain, but that lifted just as she teed off. Still, there were heavy gusts that made choosing the right club difficult.

“It's really tough out there,” said the 24-year-old, “so I think if we can just play steady the rest of the week, it will be good.”

For much of the round, Henderson showed she is adapting her game to the links style of play. That’s something that hasn’t come easily in past visits to the Open Championship. It’s the only one of the four major championships in which she hasn’t recorded a top-10 finish. During her opening round she played a number of bump-and-run shots, in some cases chasing the ball onto the green using a hybrid. She also played smart strategically, playing away from bunkers and often choosing the hit her approach shots well away from the pin to avoid trouble.

“I really love this course,” she said. “It's really special that we're able to play here. I enjoyed the first round and excited to play three more.”